Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2023 Mar 29:14:1159985.
doi: 10.3389/fphar.2023.1159985. eCollection 2023.

Effects of saponins from Chinese herbal medicines on signal transduction pathways in cancer: A review

Mingtao Zhu  1 , Yanping Sun  1 , Haodong Bai  1 , Yimeng Wang  1 , Bingyou Yang  1 , Qiuhong Wang  2 , Haixue Kuang  1
Affiliations
Review

Effects of saponins from Chinese herbal medicines on signal transduction pathways in cancer: A review

Mingtao Zhu et al. Front Pharmacol. .

Abstract

Cancer poses a serious threat to human health, and the search for safe and effective drugs for its treatment has aroused interest and become a long-term goal. Traditional Chinese herbal medicine (TCM), an ancient science with unique anti-cancer advantages, has achieved outstanding results in long-term clinical practice. Accumulating evidence shows that saponins are key bioactive components in TCM and have great research and development applications for their significant role in the treatment of cancer. Saponins are a class of glycosides comprising nonpolar triterpenes or sterols attached to hydrophilic oligosaccharide groups that exert antitumor effects by targeting the NF-κB, PI3Ks-Akt-mTOR, MAPK, Wnt-β-catenin, JAK-STAT3, APMK, p53, and EGFR signaling pathways. Presently, few advances have been made in physiological and pathological studies on the effect of saponins on signal transduction pathways involved in cancer treatment. This paper reviews the phytochemistry and extraction methods of saponins of TCM and their effects on signal transduction pathways in cancer. It aims to provide theoretical support for in-depth studies on the anticancer effects of saponins.

Keywords: Chinese herbal medicine; anti-cancer; signal transduction pathway; steroid saponins; triterpenoid saponins.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare that the research was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.

Figures

FIGURE 1
FIGURE 1
The therapeutic mechanism of saponins from Chinese herbal medicine on cancer.
FIGURE 2
FIGURE 2
Chemical structure of triterpene saponins and steroidal saponins involved in the paper. Among them, (A) Astragaloside IV (Molecular formula: C41H68O14), (B) Saikosaponin-A (Molecular formula: C41H66O13), and (C) TSBE (Molecular formula: C42H69O13), (D) Ziyuglycoside II (Molecular formula: C35H56O8), (E) Jujuboside B (Molecular formula: C52H84O20), (F) Momordin Ic (Molecular formula: C41H62O14), (G) Raddeanin A (Molecular formula: C46H74O16), (H) Ginsenosides Rh4 (Molecular formula: C35H58O8), and (I) Afrocyclamin A (Molecular formula: C54H86O20), (J) Pulsatilla saponin D (Molecular formula: C47H76O17), (K) Ginsenosides Rg3 (Molecular formula: C43H74O12), (L) Platycodin D (Molecular formula: C57H92O28); (M) Timosaponin AIII (Molecular formula: C39H64O13), (N) Gypenoside XL (Molecular formula: C42H70O14), (O) DT-13 (Molecular formula: C46H74O15), (P) Gypenoside XII (Molecular formula: C42H72O12), and (Q) Paris Saponin II (Molecular formula: C49H78O22), (R) Gypenoside LXXIX (Molecular formula: C42H72O14), (S) A-24 (Molecular formula: C55H90O21), (T) Ophiopogonin B (Molecular formula: C39H62O12); (U) Timosaponin A3 (Molecular formula: C39H64O13), and (V) Dioscin (Molecular formula: C45H72O16), (W) Polyphyllin D (Molecular formula: C44H70O16), and (X) Ophiopogonin D (Molecular formula: C46H74O14).
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 3
Signaling pathway of Chinese materia medica saponins in anti-cancer effect. (A) Wnt-β-catenin; (B) PI3Ks-Akt-mTOR; (C) p53; (D) JAK-STAT3; (E) NF-κB; (F) MAPK; (G) APMK and (H) EGFR signal transduction pathway.
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 4
The extraction methods of Chinese materia medica saponins.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. An L., Zhao J., Sun X., Zhou Y., Zhao Z. (2020). S-allylmercaptocysteine inhibits mucin overexpression and inflammation via MAPKs and PI3K-Akt signaling pathways in acute respiratory distress syndrome. Pharmacol. Res. 159, 105032. 10.1016/j.phrs.2020.105032 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Anjum J., Mitra S., Das R., Alam R., Mojumder A., Emran T. B., et al. (2022). A renewed concept on the MAPK signaling pathway in cancers: Polyphenols as a choice of therapeutics. Pharmacol. Res. 184, 106398. 10.1016/j.phrs.2022.106398 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Arnold M., Morgan E., Rumgay H., Mafra A., Singh D., Laversanne M., et al. (2022). Current and future burden of breast cancer: Global statistics for 2020 and 2040. Breastedinbg. Scotl. 66, 15–23. 10.1016/j.breast.2022.08.010 - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Ashrafizadeh M., Mirzaei S., Hushmandi K., Rahmanian V., Zabolian A., Raei M., et al. (2021). Therapeutic potential of AMPK signaling targeting in lung cancer: Advances, challenges and future prospects. Life Sci. 278, 119649. 10.1016/j.lfs.2021.119649 - DOI - PubMed
    1. Augustin J. M., Kuzina V., Andersen S. B., Bak S. (2011). Molecular activities, biosynthesis and evolution of triterpenoid saponins. Phytochemistry 72 (6), 435–457. 10.1016/j.phytochem.2011.01.015 - DOI - PubMed